I, Coriander

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Buy I, Coriander
Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback, audiobook
Author: Sally Gardner
Reviewer: Melissa on April 23, 2010
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Some of my readers may be a little put off by the idea of historical novels in general, but Sally Gardner’s I, Coriander doesn’t adhere strictly to the events of the past. Rather it uses the past to give a general shape of the world presented to the reader’s imagination and to add plot twists and focuses it’s attention squarely on the life, love and adventures of the brave titular character. For this reason, I strongly believe that readers of all ages will delight in the titular character and her narrative.

I, Coriander nimbly blends a young adult’s perspective on a tumultuous time in England’s past with the magic of fairy tales. It begins in the golden age of Coriander’s childhood – a time filled with the love of her parents and the magical stories of another, more perfect, world. However, before she has the chance to realize what’s happening, King Charles I is beheaded, her mother dies and her father becomes a mere shadow of the man he once was.

Coriander’s life may seem to be spinning out of control, but things get even worse in this novel before they can ever hope to get better. Within three months of her mother’s death, her father is convinced to marry a Puritan woman to protect his life and interests from the growing gossip against himself and his deceased wife. Unfortunately, marrying a religious woman does nothing to keep the rumors at bay, and Coriander’s father soon finds himself needing to “disappear” rather than risk a life in jail for his politics. With her father gone, Coriander has no one to protect her from her scheming stepmother and the suspicious preacher, who begins living at the house.

One can’t argue that Coriander has many negative experiences in her young life. Yet, through it all, Gardner’s impressive knack for telling tales compelled me to continue reading and reveling in this fast-paced narrative. I often found myself thinking that her prose is more sophisticated than other novels written for the nine and 12-year-old. Although the themes of finding and being one’s self are par for the course in any coming of age narrative, Gardner explores it in an unexpected way for this age group. This is only part of the reason why I’d say that YA and adult readers alike will find much to draw them into this story.

In addition, they will be especially impressed by the strong, independent woman that Coriander grows into over the course of the novel. While authors of period pieces may paint their characters in an unbelievable way, Gardner never does. In fact, she ensures that Coriander follows the rules of 17th century female decorum to the end, but at the same time, never permits Coriander to do anything that actually contradicts the character’s feelings of what is right.

Gardner finely balances the constraints of her novel’s characters, so I’m not at all surprised that I, Coriander won the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Gold award. In fact, the only negative thing I can think to say about this novel is there are some obvious historical inaccuracies, like the fact that the color purple couldn’t be worn by the average citizen at the time – only royalty. Coriander’s courage and tenacity will inevitably stick with me long after finishing this novel and may very well find me pulling it off my YA book shelf again and again.